


Follow

by SpiderCakes



Series: Waiting Below [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Feels, Witches, familiar!Peter, witch!Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21754585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiderCakes/pseuds/SpiderCakes
Summary: When Tony spots Rhodey he grins, all but running forward and hugging him. Rhodey hugs him back, tight, before stepping back and looking him over. “I missed you, man,” he says.Tony nods, “missed you too, platypus.” He doesn’t see Rhodey often between his military job and Tony’s work with magic.Rhodey grins, knowing him well. “So what’s the deal, hmm? The call I got seemed pretty urgent,” he says.And there’s the whole thing. He’s not really sure how to go about this or what to do here. “I uh. Want to propose but I have no fucking clue how to do that.”
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Series: Waiting Below [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566604
Comments: 3
Kudos: 114





	Follow

When Tony spots Rhodey he grins, all but running forward and hugging him. Rhodey hugs him back, tight, before stepping back and looking him over. “I missed you, man,” he says.

Tony nods, “missed you too, platypus.” He doesn’t see Rhodey often between his military job and Tony’s work with magic.

Rhodey grins, knowing him well. “So what’s the deal, hmm? The call I got seemed pretty urgent,” he says.

And there’s the whole _thing_. He’s not really sure how to go about this or what to do here. “I uh. Want to propose but I have no fucking clue how to do that.”

That seems to shock the hell out of Rhodey and Tony supposed it would. He’s never been the marrying type but he loves Peter, wants to do something special with him but witches have no equivalent to marriage. They’re already bonded, but that’s a natural part of any witch and familiar relationship. Tony wants to do something else to indicate his love, something Peter can cherish forever.

“Propose to _who_?” Rhodey asks and Tony frowns.

“Have you never met Peter?” he asks, confused. He’s had to have met Peter before, they’ve been together awhile. Like almost two years, there’s no _way_ Tony hasn’t introduced them but now that he thinks about it he doesn’t remember them ever meeting...

Rhodey doesn’t look any less confused. “Tones, you call me like once a year. I haven’t seen you in person in two years, and you never mentioned that you were with anyone.”

That... doesn’t seem possible. “I never mentioned a familiar?” he asks and a light goes off in Rhodey’s head before he wrinkles his nose.

“Know that I love you unconditionally, so I say this with love. I can _not_ let you marry a _cat_ ,” he says, looking a little worried.

Tony can’t help the slight gag he gives off. “Oh my _god_ , Rhodes he turns into a person! The cat thing is part time, its just the way his magic works _ew_! And... I- have we actually not seen each other in two years?” he asks. Now that he lets it sink in that seems more correct than not and that doesn’t sit well with him. He’s been friends with Rhodey for longer than he hasn’t and skipping out on _that_ much of his life is an asshole thing to do.

“Yeah, its been at least that long. I try not to take it personally anyway, we both know you don’t really pay much attention to time. Not that you’d need to anyway, don’t witches have longer lifespans than humans?” he asks.

“Only if they’re born that way,” Tony says, response automatic as he tries and fails to remember the last time he spoke to Rhodey.

“You sure? Because you might look _younger_ than the last time I saw you,” Rhodey tells him. “Hold on, I think I’ve got a picture,” he says, digging his phone out of his pocket and presumably searching through his photo album. “Yeah, here,” he says, handing Tony the phone. He doesn’t know when it was taken, there’s obviously not a time stamp, and he can’t even _remember_ the bar they’re clearly sitting in. He stopped drinking when Peter found him and honestly he forgot that he used to drink at all. Its just never occurred to him to start again, which is weird considering he used to drink far too much before Peter came around.

Still, when he glances in the window he’s sitting beside he can see what Rhodey means and it can’t all be attributed to not drinking so much either. His hair doesn’t have the touches of grey in it anymore, and it looks thicker than it was. More like it looked when he was Peter’s age than, apparently, two years ago. He doesn’t look so weathered either, even if he’s clearly still showing signs of aging. It just looks a lot more graceful than it had a couple years ago minus his hair, which seems to have regressed in the aging process. Weird.

He hands Rhodey’s phone back. “Yeah, I’m sure. Must be some kind of fluke, it happens. So what’s been up with you?” he asks.

Rhodey, as it turns out, has had an eventful couple years. He got a promotion so he’s a full bird colonel, he and Pepper started dating, and as it turns out he needs proposal advice too.

*

Picking out something that Peter would like hadn’t really been a problem for Tony. Hell, picking something out for _Pepper_ hadn’t been a problem for him either but he’s always been good with anything that’s meant to look good. Its the fact that he apparently hasn’t seen Rhodey in years that he’s concerned with. He isn’t sure when he decided to give up everything he had when he lived a more human life, and some of that was intentional, like the company, but he never meant to leave his friends behind. Not Rhodey, especially. He’s been there for him when no one else has, no matter how bad he got, how much shit he put Rhodey through he’s _always_ been there. And for that Tony basically abandoned him.

He feels slim arms wrap around his waist and a head land on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” Peter asks, nuzzling his jaw.

Across the table Wanda sags in relief. “Oh thank god _someone_ said something,” she says, shaking her head. “Don’t look at me like that, Stark. Your mind is one of the loudest I’ve ever encountered.”

He considers saying something then but he thinks better of it. “Come here,” Tony tells Peter, standing up and pulling him away from the rest of the group. Confused, Peter follows him back to their space, linking their fingers together and leaning close like he’s afraid Tony is going to disappear on him.

“Are you... okay?” Peter asks slowly, sitting down beside Tony on their small bed. Its so _strange_ and not what he’s used to. There was a time in his life where his quaint living style would have made him wrinkle his nose in disgust. Granted he likes to think he’s matured past that but still. Looking around its clear it isn’t just friends he’s given up, its almost everything he’s ever had. “I haven’t seen Rhodey in two years and I didn’t even _know_ that until he said something,” Tony says, wondering if Peter even knew who that _was_. Has he mentioned Rhodey? He can’t imagine _not_ mentioning him given how important he is in Tony’s life, or how important he _was_.

“Your human best friend? Don’t you talk to him regularly?” Peter asks, frowning.

“Over the phone, sure. But I haven’t seen him in _two years_. Would you be happy if I did that to you?” he says.

Peter considers it and Tony already knows the answer, its not as if he’s shy about asking for attention when he doesn’t feel he’s getting enough. “If I needed to I would,” Peter says softly and that’s sweet.

Tony wraps an arm around him. “You wouldn’t need to. And neither should Rhodey. He’s been there for me my _whole_ life almost, though the worst _and_ the best and I just _left_ him. And no offense, but it isn’t for a whole lot. So what, I ditched him for a coven that doesn’t even believe I have any kind of power most of the time? That’s a pretty asshole thing to do. He’s never even met you, and apparently didn’t even know we were together,” he says.

That catches Peter’s attention and Tony doesn’t want to see him so hurt. “You didn’t even _mention_ me?” he asks, eyes wide and a little wet.

“I did, but not that we were together. He was pretty surprised when I said I wanted to marry you.” It comes out mostly accidentally and Peter frowns because he’d be unfamiliar with the concept. Tony knows he’s never spent much time with humans. Familiars are revered, as soon as his family knew he’d have been sent off to a special boarding school for familiars specifically and that would have been at a young age. And from there he would have made his way around to different covens until he found the witch for him. That doesn’t leave a lot of room to explore humans much and he no doubt got told a bunch of scary tales about them. The concerns aren’t exactly lacking in evidence, but Tony knows the view of humans is antiquated. They aren’t exactly _fond_ of witches, but they aren’t exactly genocidal anymore either.

“What does that mean?” Peter asks.

He sighs because there’s no specific witch concept for it, if they want to be in a relationship they are and if they don’t they aren’t. “I uh... its a way humans bind themselves together legally, like the human version of a bond between a witch and a familiar. They mix assets and like... make important medical decisions for each other if they get into car accidents- this is an awful explanation of marriage,” he says, frowning. He’s never had to explain the concept to someone who has never heard of it before. Its something he grew up with so its not like he’s ever _needed_ to explain it.

“We already have a bond,” Peter says but he doesn’t seem put off by the idea Tony put forth.

“We do, but I wanted something... I don’t know, like a date or something for it. Marriages are essentially a large party of family in friends to like... celebrate the relationship? Well, the wedding date- god, we should just watch like any romcom ever. They probably do a better job at explaining this than I do.” Why didn’t he start with the _wedding_? That seems easier than everything else that comes attached to marriages.

“You wanted to... throw a party to celebrate our relationship?” Peter asks. Tony nods because more or less, yeah. Peter grins wide, throwing his arms around Tony’s neck. “Oh, that’s so sweet!” he says excitedly.

He smiles, pleased that at least one problem here is solved. “Here,” Tony says, grabbing Peter’s left hand and slipping the ring in his pocket onto his ring finger. “Its um. What humans do to indicate they’re married to other people,” he explains. Witches, if they’re powerful enough, can sense bonds with familiars. Stephen can sense his bond with Peter, and through more context clues than not he can sense Stephen’s bond with Wong, but other than that its more of a means of being told who is with who.

Peter crawls into his lap, pressing his face into Tony’s neck. “I love it!” he says, arms curling around his waist.

*

Rhodey knows he doesn’t really... _get_ Tony’s life now, hasn’t for some time given that he’s never understood Tony’s interest in magic, but he understands his choice in life partner less. Looking at him he’d assume Tony would think he was too young, and maybe a little too excitable but he’s clearly used to it. And Peter is... weird. There’s no nice way to put it, he’s just _odd_. Tony though, he’s clearly head over heels in love. Rhodey had his doubts when Tony had mentioned marriage, its not as if he’s known for his totally level headed decisions one hundred percent of the time, but its pretty obvious that he loves Peter.

“So,” Rhodey says to him. “You can uh. Turn into a cat?” He has no idea how any of this stuff works, has no idea how _Tony_ figured out how any of this stuff works, and the cat thing just seems nuts.

Peter’s eyes light up with excitement, “oh, you’ve never met a familiar before!” he says excitedly, walking to the middle of the room. Rhodey doesn’t really expect much but can’t help but let out a shout when Peter turns into an _actual ass mini jungle cat_ in his fucking kitchen. He jumps onto the counter because _what the fuck_ but Peter jumps on after him, tail flicking back and forth as he advances on him.

“Peter, leave Rhodey alone he doesn’t know the difference between you and a baby cheetah,” Tony says, walking over and pulling Peter off the counter. Pepper walks in after Tony and looks mostly confused.

“Why are you on the counter?” she asks him.

Rhodey looks at her like she’s nuts. “Tony is holding a fucking _jungle cat_ and you’re asking why I’m on the counter?”

“Rhodey, that’s a Savanah cat. They’re a domesticated species and about as likely to harm you as a house cat,” Pepper tells him.

The cat lets out a loud meow and Tony sighs, “don’t get used to this,” Tony tells Peter as he sets him on the ground. Peter walks a few paces away and turns into a god damn human and that’s all Rhodey needs to see of magic to know he wants nothing to do with that shit. Absolutely _not_.

Pepper jumps, caught off guard and Peter giggles. “Humans are a lot funnier in real life than in witch stories,” he tells Tony from the floor.

Tony sighs, “baby, that’s because you got taught about that time humans started a genocide on witches in two separate continents. In modern times they’re mostly just easily spooked.”

“Good god, how do you get used to that?” Pepper asks.

“I mean, I have a colleague who shoots orange sparks out of his hands and can make portals to anywhere in the world with his fancy ring. Peter isn’t even the weirdest thing I’ve seen this morning.”

“No, that definitely goes to Steve’s sour kraut on eggs,” Peter says.

“I was going to go with Stephen spontaneously growing like wight extra arms basically just to look fancy while he used his magical time rock but sure,” Tony says, deadpan.

Peter snickers, “oh, if he heard you call the Eye of Agamotto that he’d probably lose his mind.”

“I don’t get why you like magic so much,” Rhodey tells him. “Because it seems like some real bullshit.”

Tony grins, “we should do a spell!” he says like there is _any_ way he can be talked into that shit. He might do anything for Tony but he still has his limits.

*

Peter curls up next to Tony and he can tell something is off still. “What is it?” he murmurs, curling an arm around Tony’s waist. Tony turns to face him, tucking himself into Peter’s arms and that’s so sweet. Its rare that he does this, lets Peter hold him or comfort him. He has a hard time accepting affection, Peter knows, and he suspects there’s a lot that goes into that that he doesn’t want to know.

“I miss my old life. Well, okay, not most of it but I do miss spending time with Rhodey and the city.” It had been nice to visit but Peter isn’t sure he’d want to life there. But he’s more sure he doesn’t want to lose Tony so he hugs him a little harder.

“We can move there, I’m sure there are covens in cities,” he says though he has his doubts.

“You’d hate that,” Tony murmurs.

“I’d hate not having you more,” Peter murmurs, pressing a kiss to the top of Tony’s head.

Tony shifts, lifting his head to look at Peter. “Baby, you’d never lose me. And I don’t want to leave this behind either, the magic. But I’ve never really belonged here. Never really belonged with humans either. I’m not sure where that leaves me.”

He kisses Tony softly, running his fingers through Tony’s hair. “Let your magic tell you,” Peter murmurs. “Didn’t lead me wrong when I didn’t know where to go.” It led him to the best thing in his life, actually, and he’s sure it’ll do the same for Tony if he allows it to. The problem is that Tony is stubborn and doesn’t tend to trust magic more than himself. Symptom of a human upbringing, he’s sure. After spending some time with Tony’s human friends he can see a lot of Tony’s weird habits reflected back and he’s sure that the way he holds back trusting his magic is a remnant of his growing up more or less human. Though according to Rhodey he got into magic pretty young, so Peter isn’t sure how much or little of his human life remains really.

Still, its clear that Tony has a hard time letting some human habits go so he’s a little surprised when Tony closes his eyes and presses his face back into Peter’s chest. His heart skips a beat because he genuinely _wouldn’t_ like living in that city they visited, there’s too many people and smells and a million other things Peter doesn’t understand. But if that’s where Tony’s magic tells him to go...

Tony inhales sharply and gasps, pulling away suddenly. Peter frowns, “are you okay? Does this um... mean we’re moving?” he asks, selfishly hoping that that’s a no.

“No. I... there’s something coming. I need to find Stephen,” he says, taking off without explanation. Peter frowns and looks down at the ring on his left hand, the one that that humans apparently use to symbolize a lifelong bond, and sighs. If Tony decides to move back to the city he’ll go, he’ll follow Tony wherever he decides to go. Including wherever he’s taken off to now because nothing he just said made any sense.

**Author's Note:**

> [My writing Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/spidercakes)


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